Anthroposemiotics is a field of study which seeks to understand how humans communicate. Humans typically communicate to share information, to influence one another, or to persuade one another, among many other reasons and purposes. Human communication includes sounds such as speech and non-speech vocalizations. Human communication also includes nonverbal communication and visual communication. As a result, human voices and human facial expressions, eye contact, or touch, play a key role at all levels of human communication. The human face is capable of assuming a wide and varied range of facial expressions. Facial expressions can be formed consciously and unconsciously and can convey fundamental information such as cognitive content, emotions, thoughts, reactions, and other information. The facial expressions are formed by physical movements or positions of facial muscles. The movements and positions of facial muscles form expressions that convey numerous cognitive states ranging from happy to sad, including expressions of anger, fear, disgust, surprise, and many others.
Non-verbal communication takes place between and among people, without exchanging words. Non-verbal communication supplements verbal communication and can be categorized as visual cues, distance cues, voice cues, and touch cues. Visual cues often include body language and facial expressions. An angry face conveys an opposite message to a smiling face. Physical distance cues are also informative. Towering over another person threatens, while sitting with the person reassures. Voice cues, called paralanguage, include rate, pitch, volume, voice quality, or prosody. Loud and rapid speech can indicate anger or alarm, while soft and slow speech can indicate ease or comfort. Touch or haptic cues can also be used for non-verbal communication. A handshake can communicate welcome or confidence, and a welcomed touch can convey affection. In stark contrast to a welcomed touch, an unwelcomed touch can cause anger and disgust.
Data can be collected from a person for a variety of purposes. The data often includes video data and audio data. The video data can be analyzed to determine a facial expression, to perform facial recognition, to conduct identity confirmation, or to determine a range of cognitive states, including mental states or emotional states, that relate to the person. Similarly, the voice data can be analyzed for voice recognition, biometric confirmation, or cognitive states. The cognitive states can include frustration, ennui, confusion, cognitive overload, skepticism, delight, satisfaction, calmness, stress, and many others. As a result, human facial expressions and human voices play critical roles at all levels of human communication.